The mandatory payment of a product charge as of 1 January 2003 no longer applies to “disposables”, but to “packaging.” Those “manufacturers” which, either individually or through a coordinating organization, meet the recycling targets set, could be exempt from paying a product fee.
Relying on the guidelines adopted by the EU, Government Decree No. 94/2002 (V.5.) impacts the entire packaging chain, from the procurement of raw materials, through the design and implementation processes, to the management of packaging waste. Accordingly, the principle of shared responsibility lays various charges on the participants of the packaging chain. The raw material suppliers stand at the beginning of the chain.
The Government Decree considers the initial marketer or – in the case of importation – importer of a packaged product as the manufacturer. Enterprises must meet the emission-proportional recycling rates prescribed in the Waste Management Act and the Government Decree. The Decree provides two essential ways to do so: The requirements can be met either individually (i.e., as a company) or jointly, via a coordinating body established by those concerned. So, an enterprise can decide to declare the quantity of disposables used for packaging products of its own production or to join the coordinating body. For most businesses, the latter alternative seems more feasible.
Enterprise for Organized Collection and Recycling
Driven by its intention to widely popularize the organized collection and recycling of packaging waste in Hungary too – as practiced in the member states of the EU – major companies in the Environmental Committee of CSAOSZ (Csomagolási és Alapanyagmozgatási Országos Szövetség – National Alliance for Packaging and Materials Handling) established ÖKOPannon Közhasznú Társaság in late 1996. Among the founding members there are large companies, packaging producers and fillers alike, who are committed to the active conservation of the natural environment and to minimizing the loads thereon. They possess extensive international experience in integrated waste management, selective waste collection and byproduct recycling, and through their operations in various European countries they even have an idea about the price range of the alternatives available. The founders of ÖKOPannon Kht. do not aim to realize a profit, since each of them do their business in different areas.
The Company’s mission: To recommend an alternate optimized waste management solution, which is capable of supplanting the product fee and which solves the pervasive waste management problem relying on competitive principles. Accession to the European Union also requires adoption of this new solution.
ÖKOPannon Kht. took upon itself the pioneering task of introducing in Hungary a new, license-based waste management practice developed for packaging materials. In recognition of the work it has done so far, ÖKOPannon became the local partner of the PRO EUROPE Green Point system in early May 2001, a scheme that has proven successful in Europe. The objective of the scheme is to fulfil the regulations specified in the Waste Management Act on behalf of the licensed members, and at the same time meet the EU’s expectations.
The Green Point in the European Union guarantees that the wastes of packaging bearing its mark are selectively collected, sorted and recycled, in other words, they are treated in accordance with the requirements of the European Union. Whenever the Green Point is featured on the members’ products, it means that they are part of system, established solely for the collection and recycling of packaging wastes, whose operation is in line with the EU’s guidelines. In order to use PRO EUROPE’s trademark, the Green Point, members (packaging producers, fillers and trade companies) must pay a royalty, from which the organization’s activities are financed. The size of the royalty depends on the composition and mass of the packaging material and corresponds to the actual cost involved in handling the packaging waste for the manufacturer.
Of course, contractual partners must be exempt of paying the product fee in order to avoid double taxation. Legislation provides for this.
Dunapack Rt. also chose ÖKOPannon Kht. Any partner who assumed otherwise or has not though it over yet, should prepare his declaration for the first quarter himself. Whoever is looking at a change should contact ÖKOPannon Kht., for example, as soon as possible. Experts aid in interpreting the Act and in completing a declaration. Through their participation and contingent upon an appropriate analytical account and conditions facilitating the ease of auditing, they can pay the environmental product fee as a royalty from the 2nd quarter onwards. |
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